SSL 2018-19 Wellington Firebirds vs Canterbury Kings 12th Match Prediction. The 12th game of the ongoing Super Smash 2018-19 will see Wellington Firebirds take on Canterbury Kings. The match is scheduled to be played on January 6 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. Live telecast will begin at 4 PM local time.

Betting Tips

Wellington Firebirds will be playing at their home ground but they have lost three of their last five completed matches here.

Canterbury Kings will gain confidence from having hammered Wellington Firebirds the last time these two sides locked horns.

Wellington have a stronger top-order batting while Canterbury have a better bowling attack with Kyle Jamieson and Ed Nuttall in their side.

WEL vs CAN, Super Smash 2018-19: Where to Watch/Live Streaming

TV channels: Star Sports, Sky Sport NZ

Live Streaming: Bet365, Hotstar, Sky Go

Wellington Firebirds Team News & Playing 11

Michael Bracewell and Devon Conway stitched a 94-run partnership in the last game against Central Stags to guide their team to a comfortable eight-wicket win. Both the openers are amongst the season’s leading run-getters and once again the onus will be on them to take Wellington off to a strong start. Tom Blundell is another key figure in this batting group. The wicketkeeper-batsman hit a fifty against Canterbury last season and he will be expected to produce a quality knock this time as well. When it comes to bowling, Wellington will bank on their seamers Hamish Bennett, Logan van Beek and Ollie Newton to do the job for them. Bennett has taken five wickets in three matches so far and he is going to play a vital role in the absence of James Neesham who is currently away on international duty. van Beek took a three-wicket haul against Canterbury last time and he could cause problems for them here again.

Wellington Firebirds Predicted Playing 11

Canterbury Team News & Playing 11

Canterbury’s batting will revolve mainly around Stephen Murdoch, Chad Bowes and skipper Cole McConchie who scored an unbeaten 47 to take his team home in the last match against Auckland Aces. Murdoch is having an impressive strike-rate of 154.28 and he recently cracked a half-century against Otago Volts. Bowes is another fine batsman. The opener was dismissed for just one run last time and he will be looking to make a strong comeback. Kyle Jamieson seems to be the biggest threat in this bowling attack. The pacer jumped to the top of the wickets charts with a record-breaking performance against Auckland, finishing with figures of 6-7 from four overs which is now the best by any bowler in the tournament. Apart from him, Canterbury will also have high expectations from Andrew Ellis and left-arm seamer Ed Nuttall who notched up a three-wicket haul in one of the matches against Wellington last year.

Team Form in Last Five Matches (most recent first)

WEL : W L NR L

CAN : W L L L W

WEL vs CAN Head to Head

Wellington Firebirds and Canterbury Kings have played 21 matches against each other in the New Zealand domestic twenty20 tournaments. Both have won 10 times each with one of the matches having resulted in a tie.

The two teams faced each other twice in the previous Super Smash season with both winning one game apiece.

Canterbury Kings and Wellington Firebirds last went head-to-head in January 2018 at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The Firebirds opted to bowl first after winning the toss and restricted the Kings to 150/7. The former were then shot out for just 88 in the 15th over to go down by 62 runs.

Wellington Firebirds vs Canterbury Betting Odds

Betfair is offering odds of 1.90 on both Wellington Firebirds and Canterbury Kings to win this twelfth match of the Super Smash 2018-19.

Wellington Firebirds vs Canterbury Prediction

Wellington Firebirds and Canterbury Kings both won their last match but the former have five losses in their last six completed matches. They may have the advantage of playing at home but they will also be well aware of the fact that they have lost three of their last five completed matches at this ground, including the most recently played two. Canterbury blew away Wellington when these two teams last faced-off against each other in the tournament and this should give the former the upper hand going into this game. Canterbury Kings also have a potent bowling attack and we expect them to trump Wellington Firebirds who are under pressure with just the one win from four matches.